Inverted F-18 Hornet looks almost certain to crash into beach full of people until very last second

By: Skye Graham

An F-18 Hornet appears to narrowly escape crashing into a beach full of people in footage posted by the Spanish Air and Space Force (SAF).

The SAF confirmed that the incident took place during an airshow in Gijón, Spain, in a post to X. The Gijón Air Festival drew over 300,000 spectators over the weekend, reportedly the highest attendance it has ever had, according to EuroNews. The outlet identified the plan as an EF-18 Hornet.

The F-18 Hornet flies are at a very low altitude when it suddenly makes a hard right roll and inverts, the SAF’s footage shows. It appears to pull up right before reaching the shore. Another video posted by Visuair, a drone service firm, shows the scene from the beach.

The SAF explained the situation in a statement. “As you have seen, one of our F-18 fighters performed an evasive maneuver upon detecting a flock of birds in its path,” the military branch said.

Muchos nos habéis estado preguntando, por eso, en este hilo, os contamos qué pasó durante el festival aéreo de Gijón.

Hilo 🧵 pic.twitter.com/oyY2ZNESEA

— Ejército del Aire y del Espacio (@EjercitoAire) July 28, 2025

“This action is part of the standard protocol to preserve both the pilot’s safety and the public’s security. Our aviators are trained to react in milliseconds to any unforeseen event,” the SAF added. “In this case, the pilot acted with exemplary speed and professionalism, avoiding a possible collision without compromising the exhibition.”

“Today at the Gijón International Air Festival, a disaster could have occurred if not for the skills of Captain Botana at the controls of the [F-18],” Visuair claimed.

If the F-18 wasn’t able to point its nose at “extreme angles of attack,” the pilot and his aircraft may have suffered a crash, The War Zone reported.

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